Remote IDE (VS Code)

VS Code lets you edit files and run terminals on Oscar directly from your local machine using the Remote SSH extension.

VS Code one-time setup

To use VS Code you must be on a Brown compliant network or connected to the VPN. Please install the Brown VPN client before proceeding.

To use VS Code you will need to be connected to the VPN. Please install the Brown VPN client before proceeding.

Step 1: Install VSCode Extension

Install the Remote Development extension pack for VS Code:

Step 2: Setup Passwordless SSH

Make sure you have set up passwordless SSH authentication to Oscar. If you haven't, please refer to this documentation page.

If you have Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) installed in your computer, you need to follow the instructions for Windows (PowerShell).

Step 3: Edit the SSH config file

Add the following to your SSH config file. Replace <username> with your Oscar username.

Mac / Linux

The config file is located at:

~/.ssh/config

Windows

If you have Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) installed in your computer, you need to follow the instructions for Windows (PowerShell).

Host jump-box
    HostName ssh.ccv.brown.edu
    User <username>
    StrictHostKeyChecking accept-new

Host ccv-vscode-node
    HostName vscode
    User <username>
    ProxyCommand ssh -q -W %h:%p jump-box
    StrictHostKeyChecking accept-new

Step 4: Connect to Oscar

Open the Command Palette in VS Code (Cmd+Shift+P on Mac, Ctrl+Shift+P on Windows/Linux)

Select Remote-SSH: Connect to Host…

Choose ccv-vscode-node from the list

Screenshot of a configuration dropdown in VS Code with "Remote-SSH: Connect to Host" highlighted.

Step 5: Initial Setup

Install and set up of VS Code

Mac / Linux

After a moment, VS Code will connect to the SSH server and set itself up.

Windows

Step 6: Apply Recommended Settings

Do this once after your first connection. Without it, VS Code will try to index all files you have access to on Oscar, including large datasets which wastes resources on the shared node and slows things down for everyone.

Open a terminal in VS Code and run:

cp -v /oscar/runtime/software/utility/settings.json /users/$USER/.vscode-server/data/Machine/settings.json

or manually create /users/$USER/.vscode-server/data/Machine/settings.json file with following contents

{
  "files.watcherExclude": {
    "**/.git/objects/**": true,
    "**/.git/subtree-cache/**": true,
    "**/node_modules/**": true,
    "/usr/local/**": true,
    "/oscar/**": true,
    "/nfs/**": true,
    "/files22_research/**": true,
    "/files22_lrsresearch/**": true,
    "/HEP/**": true,
    "/sss/**": true
  },
  "files.watcherImplementation": "parcel",
  "files.autoSave": "off",
  "search.followSymlinks": false,
  "search.exclude": {
    "**/.git/objects/**": true,
    "**/.git/subtree-cache/**": true,
    "**/node_modules/**": true,
    "/usr/local/**": true,
    "/oscar/**": true,
    "/nfs/**": true,
    "/files22_research/**": true,
    "/files22_lrsresearch/**": true,
    "/HEP/**": true,
    "/sss/**": true
  },
  "editor.formatOnSave": false,
  "editor.formatOnType": false,
  "python.analysis.indexing": false,
  "python.analysis.diagnosticMode": "openFilesOnly",
  "python.analysis.autoImportCompletions": false,
  "python.analysis.exclude": [
    "/oscar/**",
    "/nfs/**",
    "/files22_research/**",
    "/files22_lrsresearch/**",
    "/HEP/**",
    "/sss/**",
    "**/node_modules/**"
  ],
  "npm.autoDetect": "off",
  "typescript.tsc.autoDetect": "off",
  "jake.autoDetect": "off",
  "grunt.autoDetect": "off",
  "gulp.autoDetect": "off",
  "git.enabled": false,
  "git.autofetch": false,
  "git.autorefresh": false,
  "git.decorations.enabled": false,
  "extensions.autoUpdate": false,
  "extensions.autoCheckUpdates": false,
  "extensions.ignoreRecommendations": true,
  "telemetry.telemetryLevel": "off",
  "remote.SSH.remoteServerListenOnSocket": true
}

Then reconnect to VS Code for the settings to take effect:

1. Click the green >< icon in the bottom-left corner of VS Code

2. Select Connect to Host

1. Choose ccv-vscode-node

Important: What is VSCode Node For

The VSCode node is a shared resource with over 300 users active at any given time. It is intended for:

• Editing files

• Light terminal use

• Browsing code

Do not run computationally intensive work (R, Python scripts, model training, etc.) directly on the VSCode node. These should be submitted as jobs to the cluster. Your processes will be automatically throttled if they exceed the per-user resource limits.

To run an interactive job on a compute node: interact -n 4 -m 16g -t 01:00:00

Use interact -h for list of options.

Note that when you launch an interactive job, your terminal processes go to the compute node but VSCode processes/extensions itself stays on the VSCode node.